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Tirupati boosts the size of planned increase in graphite production in response to strong market fundamentals

Published: 08:22 08 Feb 2021 GMT

Tirupati Graphite -

Tirupati Graphite PLC (LON:TGR) is to increase the production capacity of the first module at its Vatomina graphite project in Madagascar to 9,000 tonnes per year.

The upgrade comes in the wake of increased demand for Tirupati’s high quality flake graphite.

It will also result in an increase to near-term cash flows from operations.

The company pointed to increased demand from current customers, including a London listed FTSE 250 company, recognised as a global benchmark flake graphite user, as well as interest from new target buyers as key drivers.

The company's modular development approach using internal expertise provides flexibility to enable the upscaling of Vatomina, while remaining on track for the Project's planned commissioning in Q2 2021.

The 50% production increase will be done at an estimated 30% additional capital expenditure, bringing the total production capacity in Madagascar to 12,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) following commissioning, allowing that Tirupati already has another producing asset.

"We are already starting to see the fruits of our continued efforts to become a significant supplier to the rapidly growing global flake graphite market, which is being substantially driven by the growth in green applications including electric vehicles, thermal management and flame retardants,” said Tirupati’s chief executive Shishir Poddar.

"Flake graphite prices, and particularly in the larger flake sizes, have seen an uplift over the past quarter and we have received strong demand from our current and prospective buyers from diverse market segments.”

The company remains focused on strengthening its primary mining and processing in Madagascar, where it operates two projects, Sahamamy and Vatomina. The existing 3,000 tonnes per year high-quality flake graphite operation at Sahamamy has been producing and selling to customers globally and remained operational throughout the global pandemic.

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